Supports – Mirror or picture type – Bracket
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-07
2003-04-22
Ramirez, Ramon O. (Department: 3632)
Supports
Mirror or picture type
Bracket
C248S496000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06550739
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The field of the present invention pertains to the art of adjustable linear locking assemblies. More particularly, the present invention relates to adjustable linear locking assemblies that can be conveniently adjusted to different fixed positions.
The prior art reflects a long-standing endeavor to create mounting devices which simplify the process of positioning and mounting an item and which expand the latitude concerning where and how a mounted, hanging, or otherwise secured item can be repositioned. For example, as has been repeatedly noted in a multitude of patents granted over the last century (including those discussed below, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference), hanging an item such as a picture or painting in a precise desired position on a wall can prove frustrating and time consuming. For one thing, it is often difficult to discern exactly where an item will look best until it has already been hung in the vicinity of the desired position, and then, from the proper perspective, viewed hanging. Even when an exact desired position is known in advance, imprecision or errors in measurement usually occur (to different degrees depending on the hanging hardware used) and commonly prevent that location from actually being obtained on the first try. Finally, even when an exact position is known in advance, and it is satisfactorily obtained through luck or work, the addition or rearrangement of furniture or other hanging items is often discouraged or rendered less attractive because of the disincentive to tamper with the location of the existing item. In addition to the time that is wasted and the less than aesthetically satisfactory arrangements that are often lived with, the removal and reaffixing nails or screws is a common occurrence that causes damage to the wall surface and sometimes failure of support for the hanging item. While prior artisans in the field have long recognized these difficulties and have created a myriad of devices aimed at solving them, the devices have fallen short of providing satisfactorily robust yet simple ways for the end user to hang an item.
More generally, prior to the present invention, there has been a need for an improved adjustable linear locking assembly that can be adjusted conveniently.
Definitions
A few specific definitions and non-exhaustive comments are provided separately in this section, and apply to the defined terms themselves as well as their roots, derivatives and other variants evidently directed at the same concept. Due to the large number of embodiments and parts described in this specification, some words may be used overlappingly, etc. Nevertheless, upon a careful review of this specification, the applicable definitions of the various terms used herein should become clear in their context.
“Automatic”adjustability means that the position of an item can be linearly adjusted: (1) without disengaging the item from a support or the rest of the assembly to a degree such that letting go of the item then would allow it to be released from the support or rest of the assembly (i.e., the adjustment can be done “in situ”), (2) without requiring movement of the item to a position significantly distant from the position being sought, and (3) without requiring direct manipulation (by hand or by tool) of any portion of the assembly that is inconveniently concealed from reach by the item. Automatic activation of adjustment can be achieved by the user manually applying a selected force or series of forces on the item itself, and/or on a part of the assembly that is conveniently accessible (for example, an activation trigger). The term “automatic” is not meant to exclude devices that incorporate the automatic nature of the invention taught herein, but simply add an additional locking means requiring some user interaction with a concealed part of the assembly (e.g., an added security locking means that requires a tool for initial unlocking) prior to an otherwise automatic process of adjustment.
“Continuous” adjustability means that adjustment occurs over a substantially continuous range rather than falling into a discrete group of selectable positions. This definition is not intended to exclude mechanisms having a minor degree of discontinuities imposed by supplemental holding means, such as relatively fine incremental teeth, which are added to improve an otherwise continuous mechanism's holding of a vertical position (as exemplified by the embodiment of FIGS.
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“Ready engagement and disengagement of the item,” “readily engageable and disengageable from the support,” and the like, means that an item may be readily hung on a support and removed therefrom as desired, through facile manipulations that do not involve any significant disassembly or any detachment of parts of the assembly affixed to the support or the subject item.
Finally, terms such as “item” and “frame”; and “wall” and “support” are used herein with some overlap. For example, depending on the logical context, the term “item” may refer only to an item such as a diploma or picture, or it may also be inclusive of the “frame” in which such an item is framed, and/or inclusive of an attached or incorporated mounting device. Likewise, the term “frame” may refer just to the object in which an item is framed, or it may include the framed item and/or mounting device. These terms are intended to illustrate the concepts of the present invention, and are not meant to limit the types of items that may be adjustably held in position thereby. For example, a shelf or chair-back might be considered a “hanging item” for the purposes of the present invention, despite the fact that neither has a distinct “frame.”
The Prior Art
The prior art includes a series of patents directed to devices that provide two-way adjustability that is vertically neither continuous nor automatic. These patents include U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,120, issued Jan. 2, 1996 to Bruner; U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,599, issued Mar. 23, 1976 to Spier et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,063,666, issued Nov. 13, 1962 to Morrison; U.S. Pat. No. 2,757,890, issued Aug. 7, 1956 to Sutton et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,740,602, issued April 3, 1956 to Wofford. The devices taught in each of these patents essentially comprise a first portion having a series of horizontal slots (or pairs of slots) and a second portion comprising an opposing hook(s) or the like which seats in any member of the series of horizontal slots. Some of the aforementioned patents disclose devices with the first portion attached to the wall and the second to the picture, while the others teach the converse arrangement. In either case, a measure of vertical adjustability is provided by disengaging the hanging item and its associated hanging means from the wall support means, and reseating the hook in a different member of the series of horizontal slots. In most of the devices, horizontal adjustability is provided by the hook(s) or the like being free to slide laterally along the horizontal length of the opposing slot(s) with which it is engaged. Most significantly, however, in each of these patents, the vertical adjustability is not substantially continuous in nature, and instead falls into a group of discrete selectable positions. Also, in each of these patents, vertical adjustment requires disengagement of the hanging item from the wall support, meaning that if the person hanging the item were to let go of the item, it would presumably drop to the floor. Moreover, reengagement during vertically adjustment can involve somewhat of a “blind” process.
The prior art also teaches devices which provide for continuous, two-way, but non-automatic adjustability, requiring that adjustments be made directly to an assembly residing behind the hanging item in a fashion which is not conveniently accessible. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,284, issued Jan. 9, 1990 to Kelrick, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,791,388, issued May 7, 1957 to Hirt, both teach devices that allow for two-way adjustability effected by the manipulation by tool (e.g., screwdriv
HangGlider Partners
Law Offices of Thomas J. Brindisi
Ramirez Ramon O.
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